Restaurant: Tasty Duck [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Location: 1039 E Valley Blvd. Ste B102. San Gabriel, CA 91776. (626) 572-3885
Date: November 28, 2021
Cuisine: Chinese
Rating: Great Duck — rest is a touch boring
Tasty Duck is a regular spot with my Hedonist food and wine club. We used to come here all the time. There are other duck places and it’s always the same so it’s less frequent, but as we went here post pandemic I figured I’d give them a new write up.
The interior is jammed and the turnover is high. There isn’t even a space inch to stand while waiting for a table as the serves need what little space there is to reach the tables. Although tonight being Sunday, the crowds died down by 8pm.
The current menu. Like many places right now reduced to take out format.
Cold plate with Poached Chicken, Jellyfish, Sweet Bran Cubes, and delicious Processed Meat Slabs.
Squirrel fish. This is the super fried fish in the super sweet red sauce.
Walnut shrimp. Always a favorite. I don’t dig the pineapple.
Spicy Razor Clams with Cucumbers. Delicious with a bit of mala. One of the best dishes.
The main event: Peking Duck. Not only was this delectable, with fantastic crispy skin and delicate meat, but it’s artfully arranged. We had two plates of these per table and it was a feeding frenzy!
Here are the traditional accompaniments, starting with excellent pancakes. One mystery question I must ask: why do Chinese restaurants insist on putting far too few pancakes and too little hoisin sauce on the table?
Scallions and cucumber.
Hoisin. It is good here.
A pancake in the making. 
Bean Sprouts and Duck. Good for what it is.
Cumin Duck Bones. Lots of flavor.
Cumin Lamb. Nice and spicy.
Pork hock. Some kind of crazy pig leg. Some serious fat here and the skin was a bit mushy, but the meat fell off the bone and was incredibly tender and delicious.
Pork Meat Ball Soup. Like Matza Ball Soup, but with porky meat balls. Same texture. Super delicious but seething with MSG.
Mixed Vegetables. Terrible. Weird taste.
Chocolate Butterfinger Crunch Gelato – The base is made with Valrhona 62% Satilla Chocolate and then layered with Dark Chocolate Peanutbutter Cream Cheese Ganache and chopped Butterfingers! — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #Valrhona #chocolate #creamcheese #ganache #icing #peanut #butterfinger
Overall, another fantastic meal. Tasty Duck isn’t the most adventurous SGV place, but they do an excellent job. They were super friendly and willing to serve us the dishes one at a time over a long period. Tonight was better than on some of the overcrowded Saturday’s when they don’t have as much bandwidth for us.
The duck was first rate, as good as Peking duck gets — more or less. Although I have been disappointed in the hoisin sometimes. Some other dishes, like the pork hock and razor clams are very good too. A few others just so so, like the shrimp. Tasty Duck is all about the duck. But I do think Ji Rong is quite a bit better at this current moment in time.
